The Wargos

Posted: December 27, 2012 | Categories: Family

Anna and I plus the kids had a wonderful Christmas and we’re basking in the glow of the weekend and the holiday. On Christmas day I had a little time by myself to putz around my office. As I sat there, working through my mail and doing some other simple tasks, I started thinking about my year and all the things I had to be thankful for.

So, what do I have to be thankful for?

Well, first of all I’m very thankful for Anna. Put simply I married an amazing person and she’s had a huge impact on my life. It wasn’t until I met her and knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her that I realized how unhappy I was before then. We’re equal partners in this marriage of 12 years and I’m still simply crazy about her. I held her in my arms yesterday in the kitchen and clearly see the exact same beautiful woman who kissed me in the Copa Cabana bar 13 years ago (yes, I was too shy to kiss her). Wow, it will be 14 years ago in just a few weeks.

I’m thankful that I’m in reasonably good health (see below about my back). Things could definitely be worse.

I’m thankful for my family being safe and healthy. My friends too – I lost an excellent and amazing friend last year, and I’m glad nothing like that happened this year (so far, still a couple of days left). Losing Bill truly made me more thankful of the friends that remained – since his passing shocked me so much.

I’m thankful that my siblings live so close. The move to NC put all with 4 hour drive of each other – and that’s a good thing. Going to be seeing both of them (and their families) Friday.

I’m thankful that my family has discovered my Amazon wish list. It’s so cool that for birthdays and Christmas that my list of things I want is right there for the viewing. If any of you feel like getting me something off the list, …

I’m thankful that I got a new job this year. I was working at AT&T and really wasn’t happy. I’d taken the job realizing I was signing up for a Sales job (which really didn’t interest me), but over time they changed the position enough that it simply wasn’t working for me. What started as a Sales job structured in a way that I could feel un-salesy quickly became a Sales job with quotas and more yucky stuff. Simply not for me. I accepted a position at SAP and now I’m back working with commercial software products again. Having hit 50 this year, I’m suddenly thinking more about my retirement – and thinking that SAP might be my last job. Who knows?

I’m thankful for my neighbors who are now my friends. The move to NC was challenging for someone like me who’d never lived outside of NE Ohio before, but we moved into a great neighborhood and made some amazing friends. My birthday party and our yearly Christmas and 4th of July parties regularly remind me of how much fun our neighbors are.  There are some quirky ones here (you know who you are), but they’re still fun (actually more fun for the quirkiness). I’m thankful that the largest YMCA in the world is right outside the back entrance of our housing development. I’ve been doing personal training there when I’m in town and doing machines on my own when I can, and I’m really feeling great because of it.

I’m thankful for beer from the Great Lakes Brewing Company – still the absolute best beers in the world.

Oh, I almost forgot, I’m thankful for bacon – enough said.

I’m thankful that Rush is still touring and that Charlotte gets some great musical acts coming through.

Things I wish I could change?

Oooh, I wish I could get a new back – this one sucks.

I wish politics mattered less (and the cable news shows showed content other than political stuff). I wish there were less democrats (members of the Democratic Party) in the US.

I wish I applied myself in High School like I apply myself to things today. I’d be a gazillionare now if I had. Truly my biggest regret in life. How then to help so my kids don’t have the same regret? I keep hoping I win the lottery, but to no avail. Of course ‘hope is not a strategy’ (my favorite expression of all time), but sometimes it’s OK. Hope is all I have when it comes to the lottery – that and playing regularly and only slightly increasing my odds by actually playing.

I wish I was younger – turning 50 this year really did make me start thinking about how much longer I had to live. No other birthday had that affect. My friend Bill never made it to 50. My uncle (who’s middle name I proudly got) never made it past his early 20’s, so I did good there. My mother passed away at 66 and my dad about 11 years later – what does that say about how much time I have left? 16 more years? 27 years? Ugh, I want 100 years more. I want to hold my grand children (or even great grandchildren) in my arms – what are the chances considering I’m 50 and my kids are 9?

I wish I saw my old friends from Akron more frequently. With my job at AT&T I could usually arrange a trip or two to NE Ohio every year. We’ll see how that works out going forward.

What else?

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